Kathryn in the Art Grotto
by Polgaria
Summary: COMPLETED What happens when unusual circumstances force Kathryn Janeway into another demension? Will she be able to deal with the somewhat quirky person she encounters there? And how the HELL will she ever get back to Voyager? Please R&R, PoL
1. The Grotto

Kathryn in the Art Grotto  
  
Kathryn Janeway tossed fitfully in her now disheveled bed, the want of some form of sleep so great, she was actually considering replicating a large, metal conduit with which to beat herself senseless. Suddenly, she felt a depression in the mattress and rolled quickly over, only to be confronted by the more than slightly disappointing face of the very last 'person' she wanted to see.  
  
"Having trouble sleeping, my love?" the pompous voice asked her, as one seemingly innocuous eyebrow raised and a sausage lip quirked upwards suggestively.  
  
"Q," Kathryn muttered dully as she retreated quickly from bed and donned herself in a large, concealing terry-cloth robe fashioned out of light green fabric. The first time he had pulled this little stunt on her was when Voyager had been caught in the middle of two warring Q's. One had wanted asylum granted, and this Q that sat in her bed now wanted to confine the other in an everlasting prison for all eternity. She had shrieked and ran from her bed, covering herself as quickly as possible. "Leave," she had said finally, after Q had proposed they create a relationship.  
  
This was now the fourth or fifth time he had suddenly and precociously appeared in her bed, and this time, Kathryn was really in no mood for the immortal alien's games.  
  
"Go back to the Continuum Q- and let me at least try to get some sleep." A yawn escaped the vexed woman's mouth and Q tut-tutted like an old hen.  
  
"You really should see the Doctor about your insomnia Kath-" he began. Kathryn cringed at what he had called her. Only Mark had ever called her that, and she was sure that in some perverted way, Q was trying to use it to seduce her. "Or perhaps you would like to see if you sleep better within the circle of my arms..." he trailed off alluringly and patted the area next to where he lay on HER bed. Kathryn rolled her eyes and sat down on her couch, tucking her legs up under her and resting her auburn head against a small, white hand.  
  
"What do you want, Q?" she asked in an annoyed tone. She fiddled with her loose hair as Q dramatically considered his answer. "Well?" she prompted, her voice throaty from her lack of sleep.  
  
"I want-" he began slowly, "I want- you. Here. In this bed. Now." He purred and threw back the covers to expose leopard skin undies.  
  
Kathryn resisted the overpowering urge to vomit all over her Starfleet carpeting and narrowed her eyes menacingly, leaving only small, icy blue crescents to peer out beneath dark lashes.  
  
"Q. Leave. Now. And take my defiled bed sheets with you."  
  
Q looked only slightly abashed. "Come on Kathryn," he pleaded jovially. "We could be such wonderful lovers, you and I. You, with your temper, and I with my boyish good looks." Kathryn had to choke a bit on that remark. When she was finished laughing, he continued. "We could make beautiful children together-" Q noticed that Kathryn was still shooting him the same, flat death glare and he shuddered, aroused. "Look what you do to me Captain," he said as he indicated the tent he was pitching in his ill-fitting drawers.  
  
"Jesus Christ," she gasped in disgust and horror as she shielded her eyes with both of her hands and cringed further backwards on the couch. Q like to push things, but Kathryn figured that this had gone further than 'too far.'  
  
"Get out of here NOW!" she shrieked as she grabbed a nearby vase and lobbed it at the unsuspecting Q's head. He, of course simply snapped it out of existence and even managed to look ashamed of himself.  
  
"Well," he murmured sadly as he gestured some pants into existence, "if that's the way you feel..." His sausage lips quivered and he snapped his fingers. The last thing Kathryn heard from Q was, "Sorry I had to do this to you..."  
  
And then she was standing on a cold, basement floor, in a small room. The freezing cement sent chills up her spine and she hugged herself, muttering obscenities that really shouldn't be repeated, most of them also involving elaborate death sentences that she would like to announce to Q.  
  
The room she was in was very small, and the walls were plastered in- if her studies had covered this properly- something called 'newspaper.' At least Q had had the decency to send her back to Earth. The only hitch was that this Earth appeared to be several centuries backwards of her own. Artwork covered the walls, as well as pictures of a dark, Hispanic looking woman. Kathryn fleetingly admired the paintings and then moved on to examine the rest of her archaic surroundings. A small shelving unit painted in a ghastly shade of yellow sat against one wall and was covered with all forms of artistic miscellany. On the top sat a small black box, the purpose of it unknown to her. Small sculptures also decorated this section of the yellow shelf and she admired their crafting before her eyes fell on something a little less beautiful.  
  
A plastic bottle that seemed to be filled with garbage sat next to the black box. Kathryn picked it up and examined it closely before sighing and setting back down, baffled by it's total lack of purpose. She then moved on to the white, paint-speckled desk. A few books rested on it's mottled surface and Kathryn opened on of them to discover a strange construction of flat, amber minerals. She held it up to the light that had been left on and found herself admiring the simplistic beauty of light refracting through the yellow rock. She gently returned that to it's place as well and turned around to find a pair of startled, blue eyes gazing at her from behind an old, paint spattered sheet that covered the opening to the room.  
  
"Hello," Kathryn said amiably as she raised a hand in greeting.  
  
The girl blinked and let the sheet fall in front of her face. Kathryn heard a small yelp of pain and in seconds, the teenage girl returned, rubbing her upper arm.  
  
Kathryn smiled her warmest smile and tried again. "Hello- my name is Kathryn-"  
  
"Janeway," the teenager interjected quickly. "Of the Federation Starship Voyager. Yeah, yeah. This is great. Now I'm starting to hallucinate. Must be all the lousy paint fumes I've been inhaling down here," she muttered to herself as she crossed the short distance between herself and Kathryn and poked the woman firmly in the arm. "Hmm," she mused as she peered at Kathryn intently," You seem real. I must have been inhaling those fumes for longer than I thought. Nice outfit by the way." Kathryn looked down at her robe. The teenager sat down in an oversized wicker chair and crossed her arms impatiently. "I supposed I'll just have to wait until you disappear or some such thing. I can't paint while you're hovering there."  
  
Kathryn, who had been locked in place since the girl's abrupt, even clinical identification of her finally managed to speak.  
  
"May I ask what your name is?" she inquired of the confused teenager.  
  
"What the hell," the girl said flippantly to herself. "My name is Courtney Thompson-"  
  
"Irish?" the Captain stated approvingly.  
  
"Yeah," Courtney smiled. "I already know who you are- so now that we both know each other, you can go ahead and disappear anytime that's convenient for you. Soon would be good, though," she added hopefully.  
  
Kathryn had to laugh at that.  
  
"Sorry, kiddo," she said mirthfully, "but I can't disappear because I'm not a hallucination."  
  
"Good grief," Courtney muttered to herself.  
  
"Indeed," Kathryn agreed.  
  
"Well," began Courtney practically," seeing as how you don't seem to be going anywhere, why don't you take a seat on that uncomfortable looking stool behind you and tell me exactly how you got into my basement, and why you've got yourself convinced that you are a character in an television show."  
  
"All right," Kathryn conceded as she sat on the stool, which was extremely uncomfortable by the way. "As I told you already, my name is Kathryn Janeway. I am a Captain aboard a vessel that goes by the name of Voyager. I was sent here by an alien named Q, and now I've no way to get back to Voyager."  
  
Courtney absorbed the information suspiciously. "Well, Captain Janeway- even if I did believe you, which I don't, this would all be terribly difficult to make plausible anyway. You are an actress, named Kate Mulgrew, on a television show called 'Star Trek: Voyager.'" Courtney gazed at her watch. "Which by the way will be on in five minutes if you would like me to show it to you."  
  
Kathryn sat quite still, her mouth agape in disbelief. That bastard Q had not only sent her back in time on Earth, he had sent her to a dimension where Voyager was a stupid television program!  
  
When finally her tongue decided to cooperate with her, Kathryn attempted to explain that she was in fact, not crazy. "You don't believe me-" she began," but that's alright. I wouldn't believe me either, if I were you. But let's think of it this way: If this Kate Mulgrew person was me- why would I be in your basement, in a housecoat with delusions that I am a character from a fictious television show? I know who I am, Courtney- and somehow, I've got to convince you or we'll both go crazy before I can find some way to get out of here."  
  
"We're all a little crazy," Courtney quoted absentmindedly. "Why don't you just call Q and ask him to put you back?"  
  
"No-no," sighed Kathryn, "he won't do that. I've crushed his inflated ego one too many times and he's angry with me."  
  
"Have you tried?" Courtney asked as she raised an eyebrow.  
  
Kathryn felt as though she was looking into a mirror when she saw that telltale eyebrow go up. She could, she conceded, try calling Q- but she feared that he would transport her again, and that this time she would find herself in a place that wouldn't be quite so homey as Old-Age Earth. "No," she replied slowly. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."  
  
"Good girl," Courtney praised as she crossed her legs and watched Kathryn expectantly. Kathryn felt very young under the penetrating watch of the very strange teenager.  
  
"Q?" Kathryn called out demandingly.  
  
With a small whoosh of air, Q appeared suddenly to lean against Kathryn's shoulder. "You rang, dear?"  
  
Kathryn sighed depreciatingly and shluffed Q off of her.  
  
"There's no way you would consider putting me back on Voyager, is there?" Kathryn inquired hopefully.  
  
"You were mean to me," Q sulked huffily. "I don't want to."  
  
Kathryn looked wearily to Courtney as if to say 'I told you so.'  
  
"But-" began Q, and Kathryn turned hopefully towards him, "I will prove to this ravishing young lady," he gestured towards Courtney and she shuddered, "that you are who you say you are and not a hallucination. Then at least your existence here will be taken- seriously." He smiled benevolently.  
  
"How graciously of you," Kathryn said sardonically. "Well- prove away."  
  
Q twirled his hand and whisked both Kathryn and Courtney away with him. They appeared instantaneously in a large, white walled house that smelled of flowers and freshly mowed grass. Comfortable furniture sat in the room and Q took a seat. Kathryn and Courtney looked around curiously.  
  
"Where have you taken us Q?" asked Kathryn angrily.  
  
"Who's there," came an identical reply from the kitchen.  
  
Courtney tapped Kathryn on the arm and whispered, "I believe he's taken us to Kate Mulgrew's house. This is going to be interesting..."  
  
And it was.  
  
"Who the HELL are you?" Kate inquired as she minced into her living room to discover a mirror image of herself dressed in a bathrobe, a young, red- haired girl, and Q- or at least the person that played Q in Voyager.  
  
"Hello," Kathryn said as she extended a hand towards her counterpart. "My name is Kathryn Janeway. I've been transported here to your dimension by Q over there and this young girl is Courtney Thompson, who doesn't believe that I'm not you, gone crazy."  
  
"Right," Kate Mulgrew said disbelievingly as she picked up the phone and dialed a three digit number.  
  
"That sounded like 911," muttered Courtney to Kathryn. "It's an emergency number. I think we'd better make our exit now- I believe you."  
  
"I like the way you think- Q, would you be so kind as to take us back?"  
  
And then they were back in Courtney's basement, and Q was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Disgusting, isn't he?" murmured Courtney sympathetically.  
  
"Rather," said Kathryn as she fondly squeezed the eccentric girl's arm. 


	2. WOOT!

Chapter 2  
  
(an: someone has just informed me in a review that "Thompson" is not an Irish name.please know that in fact it IS Irish, as it has a crest AND a tartan.so there.^^ As well as that, half of my family members are Irish- immigrated over as a matter of fact. At any rate, I'm going to stop ranting now as it doesn't really matter to me whether you believe I'm Irish or not.)  
  
Kathryn and Courtney stood in the Grotto, wondering exactly what to do next. It was painfully apparent that Kathryn Janeway would not be magically reappearing on Voyager for some time to come, and that awkward pain that emanated from the woman that stood beside Courtney made the teenager feel just slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"Well," said Courtney. "I guess you're going to be stuck here for a while. Why don't I let you have a shower and I'll get you something to wear, although I warn you- it's likely to be very colourful, whatever it is."  
  
Kathryn smiled as she observed that what Courtney said was true. What the girl was wearing right now was a tie-dye shirt and bright, green pants. Kathryn wondered just what she was going to end up looking like when this kid was finished with her.  
  
Courtney and Kathryn trooped up the dusty wooden stairs of the basement and walked through the well decorated first floor, up another flight of stairs, where they arrived at the bathroom.  
  
"There you go-" said Courtney as she opened up a cupboard and took out some white towels and a washcloth, and handed them to Kathryn. "The shower's just in through that door- turn the fan on and watch the hot water- it's scalding when it decides it wants to be, it really has a mind of it's own."  
  
Kathryn thanked Courtney and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She obediently flipped on the fan and placed her towels on a chair that sat under the only window, which was dressed in long, sheer fabric. She then began to undress and taking her washcloth with her, she climbed into the shower, pulling the curtain closed behind her.  
  
She marvelled at the simplicity of the array in front of her. She had become so accustomed to sonic showers that she wondered if she could figure out how to work this contraption. Tentatively, she pulled out the handle to turn the water on, and heard a distant rumbling of air in the pipes. Suddenly, warm water gushed out of the tap. This was not a shower.  
Gazing around, Kathryn found a small lever, and pulled it. Suddenly, hot water sprinkled forcefully down on her head and she whooped in triumph.  
  
"All right in there Janeway?" called Courtney as the Kathryn's whoops interrupted her search for something suitable to don the Captain in.  
  
"Fine," Kathryn replied, stifling a laugh. Courtney's abrupt and humorous manner with her was a refreshing turn on the reverence the crew of Voyager still held her in.  
  
Several minutes later, Kathryn was much refreshed, and she even figured out how to turn this ancient shower off. It wasn't really all that ancient of course, It was the year 2003, and the house that Courtney lived in was only seven years old- but it was ancient to this futuristic woman who depended on the computer to 'turn on' and 'shut off' at her very vocal command.  
  
At any rate, Kathryn stepped out of the shower in a cloud of steam and wrapped herself in the towel that sat on the chair. She then put the second turban-style around her head. By the time that Courtney knocked on the door Janeway was- sort of dry.  
  
"I've found some clothes for you to wear-uh- Miss Janeway." Courtney wasn't exactly sure what to call this woman- Captain sounded ridiculous in the current situation, and she certainly wasn't about to start calling her Kathryn.  
  
Kathryn opened the door and accepted the brightly coloured bundled, complete with a package of unused underwear and a bra, that the teenager had just received for her birthday. Aren't grandmothers wonderful?  
  
"There you go-" said Courtney as she handed over the bundle to the terry- shrouded Kathryn.  
  
"Is all of this clothing new?" said Kathryn as she examined the pile- noting the underwear still in it's cellophane packaging.  
  
"All that lovely underwear is- knock yourself out!" Courtney smiled and Kathryn closed the door and put on the clothing.  
  
When she emerged several minutes later, she wore a casual blue blouse and a pair of orange and yellow flowery peddle-pushers. She eyed Courtney speculatively.  
  
"Complementary colours, Janeway!" the girl assured her jovially.  
  
"Of course," Kathryn smiled. "My sister was always the artist, she would know about such things."  
  
Courtney nodded, now looking intently at Kathryn.  
  
"What now?" asked Kathryn as she looked down and examined her 'complementary' clothing.  
  
"Oh, nothing really- it's just that someone's going to recognize you the way you look now. You're counterpart here is really a very famous actress. We're going to have to so something about your hair, and perhaps put a pair of glasses on you. Do you need glasses?"  
  
"No- not really," began Kathryn, but Courtney cut her off.  
  
"We'll think of something. I suppose we could always dye your hair a different colour and then get some glasses without a prescription- those are sold now for pure accessory."  
  
Kathryn nodded dubiously and reached up to clasp hold of her damp hair protectively. "Do you really think that all of this is necessary-"  
  
"Yep. This whole town is full of Trekkies. You're- to quote my biology teacher- 'pooched.'"  
  
"Pooched?" said Kathryn as she quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh yes," replied Courtney fervently. "Definitely pooched." "Well," Kathryn began reluctantly, "if you say so-"  
  
"And I say so. But first, I have one more question for you."  
  
"Yes?" said Kathryn.  
  
Courtney paused momentarily to shove her bottled red hair out of her face and pull thoughtfully on one ear. "What exactly are you going to do if you really are stuck here?"  
  
Kathryn considered that. "I don't really know," she confessed. "I suppose I could get a job somewhere, rent out an apartment. I'll have to find something to keep me occupied."  
  
Courtney nodded slowly, the full of Kathryn's situation finally hitting her. This woman had nothing here- no home, no profession- no money. She would do all she could to help Kathryn Janeway- but there was only so much she could do, especially if Q planned to leave Kathryn abandoned here on this totally different Earth. He couldn't possibly be that selfish, could he? Courtney certainly hoped that he wasn't, for Kathryn's sake.  
The teenager looked upon Kathryn and smiled encouragingly. The Starfleet Captain returned the gesture and the awkward silence passed, both knowing that whatever happened, it was certainly going to be interesting.  
  
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Courtney took Kathryn back downstairs to the living room and proceeded to sit the woman down on one of the dumpy, yet comfortable couches.  
  
"Anything to drink?" Courtney asked Kathryn.  
  
"No thanks," the woman replied.  
  
"Alright then, I'm going to make a quick phone call, and then, we're going downtown to see if we can't find something to make you look less like who you are, and more like who you aren't- if that makes any sense at all?"  
  
"Surprisingly," began Kathryn mirthfully, "it does. I'm not sure why, but it does all the same."  
  
"We're going to get along just fine."  
  
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Several minutes later, Courtney was gabbing animatedly on the phone and Kathryn marvelled a the speed at which the teenager could speak. It wasn't just fast- it was warp fast. Kind of like 'Africa-hot,' only this was more to do with velocity, and less to do with hot plates.  
  
"Yeah- I've got someone here who I think you should meet.Yes, of course I'll bring her right down.we just have to go to the pharmacy first- yeah, sure Eryn. Phone Leni for me, will you? Yeah- okay.see you then. Bye."  
  
Courtney turned to Kathryn and couldn't help but laugh at the look on the woman's face. "And you thought Neelix talked too quickly. Be afraid- be very afraid!" Courtney wiggled her fingers spookily and advanced towards Kathryn, who despite her predicament indulged herself a little in the antics of the teenager and cringed backwards in mock fright. Courtney cackled and ran off towards the closet down the hall, where she proceeded to try and find a pair of shoes that the midget Captain could wear. Kathryn appeared behind her quietly in the meantime and managed to scare the hell out of Courtney.  
  
"Do we mind?" asked Courtney indignantly as she made use of the 'royal we.'  
  
"Not at all- are those for me?" asked Kathryn as she eyed a pair of sandals that looked to be about twenty years old.  
  
"This is your lucky day today Kathryn Janeway- you get to wear this fine pair of antique, fully ensured sandals with a five year, money-back guarantee." Courtney handed the mauled footwear over to Janeway and added, "if you're feet weren't so small, you wouldn't have to wear those, but as you see fit to be a midget, this is the price you pay."  
  
"No complaints here," said Kathryn good-naturedly as she donned the sandals bravely.  
  
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Soon, there were off walking down a footpath that was shrouded by trees and incessantly chirping birds. Sunlight dappled the dirt playfully and the odd tree-rat would pass them by, making a racket in the underbrush loud enough to be a bear.  
  
Kathryn was stunned by the simple beauty of it all, and Courtney seemed completely familiar with every root, every overhanging tree that blocked the path. When after fifteen minutes they reached the end, both were sad to leave the shade of the forest and make towards the asphalt of the winding road that passed by a small grey building that was Keys Public School.  
  
"You live in a beautiful place, Courtney," remarked Kathryn.  
  
"Yep- I like to think so. And you haven't seen the river yet either. After we go to the Pharmacy, I'll take you down to Leni's that way- Leni, by the way is one of my best friends. She's every so slightly insane, but if you can tolerate me, Leni will be fine. What colour of hair do you like?"  
  
"Hmm-oh- hair," Kathryn was having trouble following Courtney's drastic changes of subject. "I've always liked black," she mused dreamily, thinking briefly of Chakotay, his dark eyes and equally dark hair- his tattoo and golden skin- his-  
  
"Earth to Janeway-" said Courtney as she tapped Kathryn on the arm.  
  
Unknowingly, Kathryn had stopped mid-thought to stand in the middle of the road.  
  
"Hmm?" said Kathryn as she was torn out of her reverie. Hot blush crept up her cheeks and she tried to hide it by walking quickly.  
  
"Black then?" asked Courtney as she ran to catch up.  
  
"Yes, black," Kathryn replied, having no idea that she'd just agreed to let the insane teenager attack her lovely auburn tresses with a bottle of black hair dye.  
  
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Half and hour later, Kathryn and Courtney arrived at Leni's house with a home-dye kit and a pair of slightly tinted glasses, blue actually.  
  
Courtney ran the doorbell and heard instantaneous footsteps come thumping down towards the door. Leni opened the door to find her friend Courtney and a television character standing on the side landing.  
  
She promptly closed the door in their faces.  
  
"I seem to be getting a lot of that today," muttered Kathryn sarcastically.  
  
"Don't worry- remember that there is a person running around on this Earth that looks exactly like you- a very famous person. Leni thinks she's just opened the door to find that person standing on her doorstep. I did the same thing this morning. Don't be insulted- it's just very disconcerting to find someone like you standing in front of one's self. Take it as a compliment, if nothing else. Voyager might be real life to you- but to us, here, it's fiction. Well written fiction, but fiction never the less. And people here are attached to their media with a ferocity to rival the Medieval poets that clung to Shakespeare. It may be depreciating to have your life reduced to a television show that people stare at for entertainment, but if you think of it as popular media, it will be. Instead, think of it as a well written novel. When you read a book, you attach yourself to the characters, you relate to them, and you come to love them. It seems stupid to you now, to be reduced to that status when you are obviously much more- but know that we're all honoured to meet you- even if we are just a bunch of media-junkies."  
  
Kathryn smiled and patted Courtney on the arm, just as Leni re-opened the door.  
  
"Courtney, please tell me that Kate Mulgrew is standing beside you and that I've not completely lost my mind-" said Leni as she stared in disbelief at the woman that was wearing her friends clothing.  
  
"You're not crazy. Well," Courtney paused, "not any crazier." Leni glared at her jokingly, but Courtney continued. "This is Kathryn Janeway- Starfleet Captain of Voyager, yada yada yada. Stupid Q went and abandoned her here after she pissed him off, and well, she comes from an alternate dimension were Voyager is real, not just a TV show. Fun, ne?"  
  
"Quite. Well, come on in- Eryn's already here and she's sitting in the basement messing around on the computer. She's probably going to have a heart attack when she sees you though," she said to Kathryn. "She's a Trekkie like you've never seen a Trekkie before and she thinks that 'Captain Kathryn Janeway' is quite the role model."  
  
"I'm honoured," Kathryn smiled as she followed Leni down the stairs. "Trekkie?" she whispered back up the stairs to Courtney.  
  
"Obsessed with the show. Actually, there are several different series. Star Trek, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and now Enterprise."  
  
"Oh."  
  
They reached the bottom of the stairs, as is what usually happens when you put one foot in front of the other, and Leni lead them over to wear Eryn sat at the computer, fiddling mindlessly with a game of solitaire that she was obviously losing.  
  
Leni smiled at Kathryn expectantly, and the woman walked over to where Eryn sat and tapped the tiny teenager on the shoulder. "Hello," she said.  
  
Eryn turned around to find herself staring into a strangely familiar face.  
  
"WOOT!" she squealed as she glomped the unsuspecting Captain with full force.  
  
"Woot indeed," laughed Kathryn as she hugged the small girl back. 


	3. I Like Black

Chapter 3  
  
Courtney smiled as she watched one of her best friends meeting her hero- she knew what it was like. The previous summer, Courtney had met her hero in Montreal. It was a sweltering night in the seedy area of Montreal, and with a bowl of half rate cold soup in her stomach, she had minced off to see her Flamenco dancer, and meet her after the performance. It was the best night of her life. Courtney discovered María Pagés to be the wonderful soul she had always believed, and had given the woman a picture, to commemorate the event: María's first performance in Canada.  
  
Eryn turned to Courtney and smiled. "How did you get her here?" she mouthed.  
  
Courtney proceeded to go through the long story of just how Kathryn Janeway had appeared in her basement that a.m. and Eryn had no trouble believing that it was Kathryn Janeway that stood in front of her, and not Kate Mulgrew.  
  
"So-" Courtney began as she picked up the bag from the pharmacy, "shall we begin?"  
  
Eryn knew what Courtney was talking about, and consequently, Leni did as well. Only Kathryn Janeway was unsure of the meaning of the teenager's eager request.  
  
"Begin what?" Kathryn asked in a suspicious tone, her deep voice reverberating off of the walls of Leni's basement.  
  
"Your metamorphosis Kathryn Janeway- pick a name- any name, because you are no longer who you were." Courtney removed the bottle of black hair dye from the innocuous shopping bag and smiled evilly.  
  
Kathryn slowly began to back away from the three girls, murmuring excuses and 'I don't really thing that's necessary's'. Now she realised what she had agreed to when she had told Courtney 'black.' She REALLY had to stop daydreaming about Chakotay like that. It was getting her in to all sorts of trouble.  
  
"Don't worry," Courtney said. "It isn't permanent."  
  
"Oh," Kathryn smiled. "Well, proceed."  
  
"Much," Courtney whispered to her friends after Kathryn had sat down on a chair in Leni's laundry room. Eryn giggled and Leni muffled laughter behind her hands.  
  
What happened next was, Kathryn conceded to herself, one of the best twenty minutes of her life. After being stranded in the infamous Delta Quadrant for so long, with restrictions of protocol and her only love and family left millions of light-years away on Earth, Kathryn Janeway was a troubled and lonely woman. She loved her crew, but could only express it in so many ways- ways dictated by protocol and her best judgement, which was usually fairly harsh. Now, she was surrounded by three hilarious, friendly and loving girls that were willing to accept her into their lives without so much as a "who the hell are you- and why are you here?"  
  
Courtney, Eryn and Leni fiddled with Kathryn's hair for over fifteen minutes before finally getting it completely coated in the thick, creamy dye. Kathryn kept wrinkling her nose at the horrible smell- and the girls kept laughing at her. But it felt good- good to be pampered, good to have all attention drawn to her- and the youth of the three, it made her feel younger too. Half an hour later, Kathryn was bent uncomfortably over a large sink in the laundry room while Courtney rinsed the dye out of her hair, and then proceeded to shampoo it. And yet, Kathryn was in heaven. The shampoo smelled sweet and citrus, and the warm water sloshed down her neck and over her hair, running dark with the dye that symbolized her acceptance into this different Earth. Leni then provided the sopping Kathryn with a towel to dry her hair. When Kathryn looked into a mirror several minutes later, she touched her glossy onyx tresses and smiled approvingly. The dark hair made her light brown eyebrows seem more pronounced, and her skin paled further, making it creamy and young. Her blue eyes glowed in contrast, pools of cerulean in a fair sea of lightly freckled skin.  
  
Courtney's reflection appeared in the mirror next to her own. "Looks good- what are we to call you now?"  
  
Kathryn mulled over that for minutes- until suddenly, and idea leapt into her head. It was foolish, and nostalgic, and even a little bit selfish- but Kathryn Janeway knew now exactly what her name was going to be.  
  
"Ciquala," she said softly.  
  
"That's a pretty name," Eryn offered softly, somehow understanding the meaning it held to the small woman that stood in front of them all.  
  
Courtney understood too. "Yes, a very beautiful name," she agreed as she put a hand to Kathryn's arm. She saw the light their praise brought to the woman's eyes.  
  
Kathryn was sure now that she had done the right thing, and if she ever got back to Voyager, and Chakotay, she would tell him that she had chosen that special name as her name here, in the other Earth. Just as the mood began to settle into something verging on melancholy, Leni's mother came down the stairs with a pitcher of ice tea and a tray of glasses. Spotting Kathryn, she walked over to the smaller woman and took her hand in greeting.  
  
"Hello, my name is An- I'm Helen's mother," she said in a lilting Greek accent. "And you are-"  
  
Courtney panicked- "This is my Aunt Ciquala. She's visiting from-uh- Ireland."  
  
Kathryn smiled with the practice of someone well used to faking things and shook An's hand. "Wonderful to meet you," she said as she added a little lilt of her own to her speech. Eryn and Leni rolled their eyes in unison, but luckily Leni's mum didn't see.  
  
Kathryn and Ann spoke for a while longer while the three teenager's attacked the ice tea with a vengeance.  
  
"How long are you here for?" asked An.  
  
Kathryn considered her answer carefully. "I'm not sure just yet. I was actually thinking about moving from Ireland this summer- and was checking out the availability of homes in this area. Ireland is a lovely place, but it will be nice to be closer to family- especially Courtney and the other kids. I have no children of my own, and I really treasure all of my nieces and nephews."  
  
Courtney looked up at the mention of her name to hear Janeway speaking about her- she was really going to town on the whole 'aunt' deal.  
  
"That's wonderful," said Leni's mother warmly. "Would you like to come upstairs and sit out on the back patio with me? I'm sure the girls don't need two old people like us hanging around."  
  
"Love to," said Kathryn as she linked arms with An and they headed towards the stairs.  
  
"Well," said Leni in surprise. "That was quick."  
  
"No-," Courtney argued amiably, "not really. You're mum's a sweetheart, and Janeway's just as easy to get along with. Quick friends are usually the best- and now, 'Aunty Ciquala' doesn't have to deal with us!"  
  
They all grinned and went back to inhaling ice tea. 


	4. Licks From Home

Chapter 4

Courtney and Kathryn walked back up the trail soon after that. As they meandered more slowly this time, they both had a significant amounts to discuss, especially the recent familial relationship that seemed to have sprouted magically betwixt them. 

"Sorry about the whole 'aunt' thing, Janeway," Courtney said as she realised that she might have dumped too much onto Kathryn at once. 

"It's alright, really," smiled Kathryn as she stepped over a particularly large root. "It's nice to be with 'family' again!" 

Courtney could not help but laugh- family, eh? Lets see how Janeway feels about family when she's still stuck here ten years later, Courtney thought to herself. 

"Um- Aunty Ciquala?" began Courtney with an atrocious level of awkwardness. _Aunt _Courtney thought to herself. Sure. 

Kathryn smiled. Her new name was going to take everyone a while to get used to.  "Yes?"

"I was just wondering- uh- why you chose that particular name?" There, she'd said it- bring on the fireworks. But no explosions came, and Courtney was heartened by Janeway's lack of indignation at the intrusion of what was obviously something enormously private.  

Kathryn paused for a moment and considered whether or not to tell the uppity teen the motives for her selection. _Ah- what the hell. _"Well," she began a little more reluctantly than she had meant  to sound, "when I was stranded with the Commander on the planet that we deemed New Earth- I became, quite-" she stopped and scratched thoughtfully at her head, as if to consider whether or not she really wanted to divulge such information so quickly, "Chakotay and I- we were very- _close_." Kathryn looked to Courtney, expecting to see a roguish smile or a sly eyebrow raise, but was only confronted with the look of bleak understanding and sympathy that was quite apparent on the girl's face. Heartened, she continued, "At any rate, we began to form a very deep bond. All the while, though, he insisted on calling me 'Captain.' Finally, I told him that Kathryn would have to do, otherwise I'd go mad and take to running around in the forest with our primate friend. Chakotay came up with another idea- one quite intuitive actually. He picked a name from his native language, one that he though mirrored my soul. He was always very spiritual like that- souls and spirits and some such things. Well, Ciquala was the name that he chose. I- well, to be convinced," she said, smirking self-depreciatingly, "I thought that it meant something that would be totally inappropriate for the strict bounds I had created for our new- _relationship_."

Courtney, meanwhile had brought a stray strand of hair up to her mouth and was now nibbling thoughtfully on it. "Did you ever found out what it really means?" she asked. 

"Oh, time passed and we grew closer than I'd ever thought possible- while somehow still keeping within the boundaries that I'd so carefully created. It happened one morning, just a seemingly innocuous morning much the same as all the rest- I'd woken up before Chakotay and was nursing a cup of coffee. He moaned in his sleep so I stood to see if he was alright. Oh- it was the funniest thing I've ever seen, really. He was all twisted up in his sheets and pawing at something in the air that only he could see in his dream. He was obviously having a nightmare, so I decided to wake him up before it got any worse. Well," she continued, now in a softer tone, "I grasped his hands to stop him flailing and he looked fuzzily up at me. 'Ciquala' he murmured in relief. Well, I don't know what made me do it- really it was so childish. I acted insulted, as though he'd just called me something dirty. 'What did you just call me, Commander?' I said in the iciest tone I could muster-"

"Indeed," Courtney said knowingly. 

"Well, anyway, he looked aghast and said, 'My little one- I called you my little one.' And then promptly back to sleep he went." Kathryn smiled fondly at the dear memory. There were so few now that she could recall- she'd have to be extra careful to hold on to that one. 

"That's lovely," said Courtney a little dreamily. Then, mirthfully she said, "The great oaf- he just went back to sleep like that?"

"That's my angry warrior alright- what  a twit." Janeway was sure that no harm could be done by admitting her feelings about Chakotay here. 

"And I suppose that he never realised that he told you the meaning of your name, did he?" asked Courtney slyly. 

"Nope. It was my little secret of his little secret- He still doesn't know." 

"How devious of you," Courtney complimented, a satirical eyebrow lifting in conniving approval.  

"I know," replied Kathryn wryly. "Someday, if I ever get back to Voyager, perhaps I'll tell him-"

"I'm _sure_ you'll get back!" burst out Courtney fervently. "That stupid Q wouldn't just leave you here for the rest of your life- he couldn't! Besides, you need Voyager- it's-"

"It's my home," Kathryn filled in softly. 

Endless moments passed in the awkward silence and finally, Courtney decided that a drastic change of subject was in order. "We're hom- _back_ now," she said, catching herself, "I have to feed my puppy-"

Much to Courtney's relief, Kathryn's eyes lit up and she smiled one of her dazzling grins. "You have a _puppy_?!" she exclaimed in a slightly ecstatic tone. "I _need_ to see him."

Courtney giggled helplessly. Her plan had worked. 

Several minutes later, Courtney was walking into her house, followed closely by the now totally excited Janeway. 

"Kaiser- Kai!" she called as she walked into the kitchen to where the puppy was sleeping in his crate, deemed 'Kaiser's Kave.' The puppy raised his head and looked fuzzily around, opening his mouth to let a gigantic yawn escaped. Slowly, every so  slowly, he rummaged around in his blankets and stretched his little puppy legs- then, he ambled uncoordinatedly out of the crate. 

Courtney glanced behind her to find that Kathryn was kneeling on the floor, totally entranced by the little copper-coloured puppy in front of her. Finally, still grinning broadly, she put her face down to the puppy. "_Hello sweetheart,_" she cooed. The puppy licked her nose and jumped into her lap, where he promptly fell to sleep again. "He's fallen asleep again," Kathryn commented. 

"Yeah," said Courtney in withering tones tinged with mirth, "he does that."


	5. Home Acerbic Home

Chapter 5

For the remainder of the afternoon, Courtney was fretting about what to do with Kathryn. She obviously could not present the woman at her dinner table- she couldn't just leave her in the grotto- the only choice was to take her downtown for dinner- somewhere. 

The trailing 'somewhere' however, was a bit of a problem. In a town on 4000 some odd people, there really wasn't a whole hell of a lot of variety to speak of to. To put it very bluntly- the _shit-hole_ one horse death-trap of a town did not provide anywhere save a horrible 'sixties' diner, a decent Chinese restaurant, some hotel half-rate, some other hotel half-rate and lastly, the fast food places. Courtney was loath to subject 'Auntie' to any of the local mediocre food- in fact, she downright refused to.  Just then, she was struck with an idea- a wonderfully, terribly _awful_ idea. 

Fleeting, Courtney thought perhaps she should stop quoting the Grinch. 

_Nah..._

At any rate, this idea was a perfect solution to the not so wonderful problem of just what to feed Kathryn Janeway. 

"Hey- Auntie Ciqs," said Courtney as Kathryn absently stoked the puppy that slept on her lap, "how would you like to do a little work for your dinner?"

Kathryn's eyebrow shot up. She _really_ hoped that this teen was not implying that she- _gasp- _cook something! 

"Don't worry- I know what you're thinking," said Courtney. "You won't have to cook a thing. I was thinking that we could take a little hike along the river- and then eat dinner. What do you think?"

Janeway pondered this. "As Seven would say, this notion is....acceptable."

"Just acceptable Aunt Ciquala? Not even mildly interesting, perhaps enchanting or woodsy, even?" Courtney drawled dryly. 

"It'll be wonderful, I'm sure. Now," said Janeway confusedly as she glanced down at the puppy, "what am I supposed to with this lump?"

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Dinner that night was if not completely bug-free, rather enjoyable. The final problem was now hanging over Courtney's bottle red head. What the hell was she going to do with Janeway for the night? 

Her sole answer was Q. 

"Q- you mongrel, where the hell are you?" called out Courtney with all the disdain she could muster. Damn Prozac made it very hard to be angry. 

"Are you asking for little ole' _moi_?" said the omnipotent being as he appeared rather unceremoniously in front of Courtney so that she ran right into him as she walked, not actually expecting him to have come at all. The ignoramus Q was wearing a ridiculous outfit that well- looked like he was going on safari, really. What an idiot. 

"Yes," said Courtney, nearly laughing in his face, "I did request your presence. Now," she said, standing very strait and lifting her head snottily, "You've stuck poor Kathryn here with not a thing to her name. She has to stay, for the most part, hidden in a guise of another person- and finally, she misses her family aboard Voyager. _If_," Courtney said, "you are planning on leaving Captain Janeway here- I suggest you should at least be civil and bring her along some of her belongings, zap her up a house and a car- and if you're feeling generous..." Courtney deadpanned hopefully, "give her some money so that she's not totally screwed over. Do you think you can manage that?" Courtney affixed Q with an airy glare of utmost confidence in her own importance. 

Kathryn Janeway watched all this with a mixture of pride and definite amusement. 

"Now see here-" began Q huffily. 

Courtney was rather outraged at this point. "Now see here _what?!" she yelled. "You've left this woman stranded on a strange planet with no money, no house, no job, no family- you are __certainly not in a position to be giving ultimatums you pompous, puffed-up, sausage-lipped _nutcase_!" Courtney stood with her hands ominously held to her hips. "__Well?" _

Q pouted. "Oh fine!"  With a flourishing twist of his hand, they were standing in front of a small house that sat near to the river. Courtney recognized the area. It was Pine Point road. It was also a place that was certainly not supposed to have a house in it. Well, not so much not _supposed_, as more just _didn't have a house in it in the preceding three seconds of time. _

"Thank-you," Courtney said pleasantly. Q disappeared.

Kathryn looked to Courtney. "Shall we?" 

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Kathryn Janeway's house was gorgeous- small, but gorgeous never the less. Kathryn explored every room with renewed excitement at what she would find there. Courtney followed her, generally impressed with her badgering of Q that got her Auntie Ciqs this house. 

"_Yes,"_ said Kathryn dreamily as she entered the bathroom to find a very large bathtub. "Maybe Q didn't have such a bad idea sending me here-" she said thoughtfully. 

"Do you really mean that Auntie Ciqs?" asked Courtney sounding just slightly appalled. She didn't mean to, really- but the fact that Janeway seemed to have simply given up on getting back to Voyager was something of a shock.

"Don't sound so horrified," laughed Kathryn. "I don't mean that I'd like to stay here permanently, but it is _lovely_ here, and if I'm stuck, I can't really think there'd be a better place for me than right here."

Courtney heaved an ill-concealed sigh of relief and smiled. Kathryn could not help but laugh again. "Trying to get rid of me?" she jested. Courtney looked insulted. 

"No- as a matter of fact, I'm not! I might not hero-worship you like Eryn, but I really like you, and admire you, so don't pull that crap on me Janeway. I _will not_ stand for it!" Courtney huffily turned her back on Kathryn and tried not to be totally affronted, but it was hard. "Prozac must be wearing off," she muttered quietly to herself. 

Janeway was having a time of this little explosion herself. Courtney muttered something- she didn't quite hear what it was. Tentatively, she placed a hand on Courtney's shoulder. "What did you say?"

"I _said,_" began Courtney icily, "that my Prozac must be wearing off."  This was followed with the self-kicking thought of _What the hell did I tell her _that_ for? Now she's going to think that I'm totally mad! Flaky even. Oh poop._

"Oh," said Kathryn softly. "You- you're on anti-depressants?" 

"Yeah," Courtney muttered, sounding positively as though she'd really rather she hadn't said anything in the first place. "I was, but I was taken off of them because they thought I was ready."

Janeway circled around so she was facing the disconsolate teen. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was only joking."

Courtney mulled this over, feeling guilty now that she had made Kathryn feel quite culpable for something that wasn't actually her fault. "Me too. I didn't mean to snap, but- sometimes I just can't control what comes out of my mouth. Besides all of that, I'm just ever so slightly self-conscious." Courtney sighed. Maybe she would have to go back onto Prozac. She didn't like the thought of it, but if it was necessary, then she couldn't really argue with her parents or the doctors

"Forgive me?" asked Kathryn with a crooked little grin. 

Courtney smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do. But be forewarned- you've met my evil side now, are you sure you still want me for a surrogate nice?"

"I suppose you'll do," smiled Kathryn, tagging on worriedly, "That was also a joke."

"I suppose you'll do as well," added Courtney with a wry grin. 


	6. Caffeine Euphoria

Chapter 6

The next day, Courtney ran down to Aunty Ciqs house to find the small woman rummaging frantically through her kitchen. Suppressing a laugh, Courtney walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Kathryn jumped about a mile and then stood to glare at Courtney. 

"Lose something?" asked the teen, grinning impudently.

Janeway scowled, a truly frightening thing. "That _asshole_ Q didn't give me a coffee pot! I mean, how does he expect me to _live?_" 

Courtney backed slowly away from Janeway. "You- you haven't had any coffee yet?" she whimpered in mock terror as she hid behind the counter. "P-please," she stuttered, "don't kill me."

"Oh grow up," laughed Janeway as she flung open another cupboard and growled again as she found it without the desired pot. "If he weren't so damned _immortal_, I'd kill him myself!"

Courtney walked over to the phone that hung off of the wall. Quickly, she dialled Eryn's number. When someone answered, she blurted out, "Auntie Ciqs hasn't hand any coffee yet and she's going _nuts-_" 

"Now see here, I'm not-" began Janeway indignantly.

Courtney put her hand over the phone. "You most definitely _are_ going nuts Auntie Ciqs, just let me deal with this and then we'll get your poor, deprived body some coffee."

Thoroughly 'told,' Janeway shut her mouth and sat as dejectedly as she could upon one of the kitchen stools. Courtney finished talking and hung up the phone with an accomplished 'click.'

"C'mon, my caffeine-deprived Captain, we're going to get you some coffee!" 

Kathryn smiled thankfully and followed Courtney out of the house. 

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Fifteen minutes later, Courtney and Janeway stood outside the local coffee shop, "Café Olé" waiting for Eryn and Leni to show up. Kathryn was actually shaking softly and Courtney dutifully suppressed the urge to laugh out loud. 

Thankfully, the two girls showed up a few  minutes later, and the four of them entered the little café. Kathryn practically ran to the counter and leaned against it. "A large coffee, please," she told the woman behind the counter. 

The lady smiled, "And what blend would you like?" 

Janeway looked helplessly at Courtney, who sighed. "You'd better give her one of each Christine, she's a little deprived this morning." 

Christine laughed and nodded knowingly, "Coming right up." She tapped the cash register and said, "Four ninety-six, please."

Janeway handed over the money that Q had zapped for her and grinned. 

"You can take a seat at a table and I'll bring it over," said Christine. Then she turned her attention to the teens. "Can I get anything for you girls?"

Courtney, Leni and Eryn all ordered and then joined Kathryn at a small, square table. Kathryn was singing, "Coffee, coffee- coffee coffee coffee…" to the tune of 'Over the Ocean Blue."

Eryn, Leni and Court all looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Courtney began to sing too, "Failing failing, in the failing pool, when days are hot, when days are cool, we'll be failing school…"

Helplessly, the three girls fell into peals of giggles again. But Kathryn didn't notice, Christine had brought over the coffee. "Oh- _wonderful_," moaned Kathryn as she inhaled deeply, before taking a great swill of the black liquid.

"Carefully Auntie Ciqs," cautioned Courtney mirthfully, "we don't want you going into a caffeine seizure!" 

Kathryn merely glared at Courtney over the rim of the gigantic cup and continued humming softly to herself. 

Meanwhile, Eryn rummaged around in her duffle, looking for something that was obviously quite important. "Found it!" she declared triumphantly as she pulled a small bar of chocolate out of her bag. "It's my secret weapon," said Eryn as she brandished the _Coffee Crisp ©_ bar like a sword. 

"Whoa- are you sure that's a good idea Eryn?" said Leni as she looked over at the Captain, who was already on her third cup of coffee and was sporting a caffeine buzz. "I mean, she's really going to be twitchy if you give her _that_ on top of all that coffee!"

Eryn smiled conspiratorially. "You think?" she asked innocently as she tapped Janeway on the arm. "Auntie Ciquala," she began sweetly, "I have a present for you." She handed the bar to Kathryn and sat with an autonomous grin plastered on her freckled face.

Kathryn unwrapped the bar of chocolate and nibbled on it cautiously. "Oh my," she exclaimed as she took another bite. "_Oh my!_" she said again as she fervently dunked the bar into her coffee and then took another  bite. She smiled deliriously. 

"Now you've done it," said Courtney to Eryn as she eyed their swooning Auntie. "She's going to be addicted to those things."

Eryn smiled. "I _know_."   

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Much later, after Kathryn had emptied the Giant Tiger of all it's _Coffee Crisp ©_ bars and deposited them in her large freezer, the four walked down to the pier to show Janeway the river up close- and of course, the sail boats. 

At that moment, they were examining the miniscule lighthouse that Courtney wasn't even sure functioned. 

"Pathetic, isn't it," Courtney intoned sadly. 

"No- it's rather charming," said Kathryn as she gazed at the small red and white turret. 

"Whatever," said Courtney, still thoroughly unimpressed. "Lets walk out to the end of the pier," she said, meandering over to the long cement pathway that moved out into the water. 

"Okay," quipped Eryn and Leni. 

Kathryn also eagerly agreed, not knowing, or caring due to her caffeine buzz, where this all was going. That was until the three pushed her into the freezing water of the river, whooping with laugher. 

She surfaced the water with a grand splash and an undue amount of sputtering and choking, likely because of her laughter. "Oh," she began, waggling a finger menacingly at the girls doubled up in hilarity, "if I was _your_ captain, you'd all be confined to the brig for serious insubordination!"  

Eryn looked slightly mortified. 

Leni didn't really seem to care. She was still cackling evilly.

"Oh well, " said Courtney as she leapt into the water, sending a great wave to wash over Janeway's ever unsuspecting head. 


	7. Slide Which?

Chapter 7  
  
The next day was Thursday. Now that Courtney was sure that Kathryn, or Aunty Ciqs as she liked to be called had a sufficient amount of caffeine- and chocolate- stored up in her house, she figured the woman would be in a better mood that the previous morning.  
  
Courtney bashed through the screen door and skittered into Janeway's kitchen. "Aunty Ciqs- you in here?"  
  
"Upstairs!" came the distant reply muffled by several layers of wood and whatever else was between the ceiling of the kitchen and the floor of upstairs.  
  
Courtney trampled up the stairs only to conclude that Janeway was still nowhere in sight. "Where are you?" she called again.  
  
"Out here- on the roof!" said Kathryn as she smiled to herself. She was watching the sun dapple through the trees onto the river and was quite enjoying herself.  
  
"Good grief," muttered Courtney as she found which window Janeway had used and clambered up the shingles to sit beside the Captain. After nearly tottering over the edge onto the ground in her attempts to get over to where Janeway sat, Courtney was slightly disgruntled.  
  
"Good morning," Kathryn said cheerily.  
  
"Good morning yourself," said Courtney huffily as she pulled an errant leaf out of her hair, not sure how it had appeared there in the first place. "I see we have our coffee this morning?"  
  
"Oh, yes," smiled Janeway. "When I came home last night, I found a coffee pot sitting on the counter with an ostentatious- not to mention horribly ugly- red bow tied around it." Kathryn chuckled. "Why Q insists on keeping me here is beyond me- he's provided me with a lovely home, good people- and," she said as she took another loving sip of her beverage, "coffee. It seems to me that he's up to something besides punishing me for not sleeping with him."  
  
"Enh-" said Courtney offhandedly, "he'll get tired of keeping you here after a while and then you'll be back on Voyager."  
  
Kathryn's brow furrowed. "I certainly hope so."  
  
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It was seven o'clock at night when Kathryn found herself walking downtown with Courtney, and another teen that she had just met who went by the name of Julie. They were talking animatedly at a speed which Janeway could barely process, and much of the talk seemed to revolve around the word 'mother.'  
  
"Uhg- you wouldn't believe what mine did to me last week," exclaimed Courtney in anguish. "First, she gets home and starts grumbling and huffing around the house. 'myah myah myah- this kitchen is filthy, what are these books doing here, where's the puppy, has he been out yet- why am I surrounded by idiots?' It would have been well deserved, I suppose, if what she said had in any way been warranted." Courtney sighed heavily. "But- as usual, she just needed someone to bitch at, and I was as likely a target as anyone. Then, for no reason other than to satiate her perverse need to kill me slowly, she decides that I can't go to my dance lesson- I mean, what is that? Dance is the only thing I've been looking forward to for weeks and I really miss Gayle too. Then, last night, I was supposed to have a dance lesson- but my mother decided that for some damn reason, she wanted to make me late. She started bitching about how 'I shouldn't have eaten the rice in the fridge' and how it was all my fault that I was late. I didn't even get to dance I was so late! And then Gayle felt all guilty too-"  
  
"I know what you mean- my mother is so like that. Especially when she tells me to clean my room. She just comes in with her hands behind her back and then wrinkles her nose all snottily as she wipes a finger across my desk to check for dust- she's so annoying. It's my damn room, my space, and I can grow dust if I feel like it!" Julie made and angry noise and continued walking.  
  
Luckily enough for Kathryn Janeway, they small trio reached the storefront of Giant Tiger soon enough and Julie and Courtney stopped mutually griping. Instead, they walked over to a very small little person with dark skin and jet black hair. She smiled. "Hey guys!"  
  
"Hey Shrimpo," Julie called out.  
  
"That's our friend Shruta," said Courtney to Kathryn.  
  
"Your friend- how old is she?" asked Kathryn. The girl was awfully small.  
  
"She's sixteen Aunty Ciqs, just tiny."  
  
But that explanation was quickly interrupted by something totally off the wall, and before Courtney could introduce Kathryn to Shruta, there was a cry.  
  
"GUYS!!!!"  
  
And suddenly, the group was all running madly to one person, who ran too, her unruly pigtails flying out behind her.  
  
"CAMILLE!" was the collective cry of the small group.  
  
"Guys!" she said again as she glomped all of the girls in turn, even attaching herself to Janeway before realising that she had no idea who the woman was.  
  
"Who're you?" she asked Kathryn, hoping beyond hope that she hadn't just hugged some stranger who happened to be walking through the rowdy group.  
  
"Courtney's aunty," she said as she made sure her Irish accent was firmly in place.  
  
"Wicked cool," exclaimed Camille with obvious relief. Janeway tried not to laugh.  
  
The small group moved out to wander the town aimlessly and gravitated to the drugstore. Someone asked if Jo was working that night and someone else said she was. The gang trouped into the store in search of Jodi.  
  
They found her.  
  
"CAMILLE!" squealed Jodi as she ran to embrace the other kid.  
  
And things carried on like that. Kathryn was introduced to Jodi, and though somewhat dubiously, Jodi accepted her as Courtney's aunt. Jodi was Courtney's best friend after all- and she'd never heard of this Ciquala character.  
  
Next stop was the Value-Mart. Eryn was working there and the group wanted to pay her a visit. The grocery store was fairly empty as the group waltzed in. Eryn, who seemed to be the only person on cash stood behind her counter looking unforgivably bored.  
  
"Hey Value-bum," said Courtney as she approached the cash.  
  
Eryn waved, attempting to bring herself out of the stupor she was in. Kathryn was right behind Courtney, and Eryn perked up a bit.  
  
"Hey Aunty Ciqs," said Eryn smiling.  
  
"Hello," said Kathryn, smiling equally brightly. She'd taken a liking to this girl. She was tiny, and she was quiet- but was she ever clever, and she was funny too, in her own, understated dry humour. And then, the fact that Eryn worshipped the ground Kathryn walked on probably had something to do with it as well. "Having fun?"  
  
Eryn grimaced. "No, not really. It's slow in here tonight and I've been her for hours."  
  
Janeway was about to commiserate with Eryn when Camille ran up, brandishing a brightly coloured package of Sour Starburst © in her hands. "Woot!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
Kathryn muffled a laugh with her sleeve. If anyone else said 'woot' she thought she might have to cry.  
  
After the Value-Mart encounter, the group made it's way down the hill to sit on the grass by what was not-so-fondly named "Retard Park."  
  
"Haaaa!" Camille made a random opera noise. The group burst out laughing again.  
  
"What the hell was that?" asked Shruta and Julie at the same time, both obviously thinking that Camille had finally lost it.  
  
Leni gave the two a withering look as Camille skipped down the road. "Yeah," she said, "she does that."  
  
They sat for a while and Courtney and Kathryn both munched on the now ever- popular Coffee Crisp © bars.  
  
Suddenly, swarms of people ran down around them, some donning multi- coloured leis.  
  
"Who the hell are they?" questioned Leni.  
  
"Deep River Science Academy?" muttered someone else.  
  
"Science- in the summer?" exclaimed Camille indignantly. "Narks!"  
  
The group laughed, but then Camille blushed. "That was a little loud, huh?"  
  
"Maybe just a little," agreed Leni.  
  
Kathryn looked with one raised eyebrow to Courtney, but was not noticed as Courtney was doubled over, trying not to choke because she was laughing so hard.  
  
And hour or so later, Kathryn found herself walking home in the company of Shruta, Julie, and that crazy kid Camille. The group decided to detour to Hill Park and as they were running down the hill, Courtney giggled something in response to something Shruta said.  
  
"That slide looks like a giant penis!" she giggled as they all flew down the hill, trying to trip on pine cones.  
  
They got to the bottom. "What did you say?" asked Kathryn in slightly scandalized tones.  
  
"Penis! Look at it!" Courtney said.  
  
Kathryn continued to glare at Courtney with one eyebrow raised as Julie and Shruta and Camille headed over to the swings.  
  
"Well," said Courtney indignantly, "it does. I mean, look a it. The colour, the shape- and it has all of those ridges that go down it just like-"  
  
"Enough!" said Janeway in a strangled tone.  
  
Courtney smiled evilly. "Got you that time, didn't I Aunty Ciqs?"  
  
Kathryn sighed and then burst out into laughter. "You're horrible."  
  
"Yeah, well-" said Courtney as she ran off to the swings.  
  
The trip to nostalgia-land was cut short when some stupid soon-to-be trailer trash kids came down into the park and began setting off fireworks. It was only annoying at first, but when the dumb-asses actually threw one at Camille's head, only to have it explode a mere foot away, the group decided that maybe it was time to leave.  
  
Janeway decided that a little intervention was in order. The mask of the Captain fell over her like a dark cloud and she stalked to where the boys stood snickering behind a play structure.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she said in low, icy tones. "I'm sure you think you're having fun, with what little mental capacity you must have for setting off fireworks so close to people, but you almost hit that young girl in the head. She could have been burned, blinded, deafened- you name it." She then proceeded to fix the hooligans with her well practiced death glare. They cowered under it and then finally fled. "Imbeciles," muttered Kathryn under her breath before she stalked back to the group.  
  
"Thanks," said Camille. "Those idiots- I mean- they could've hit us!"  
  
"That's just fine, Camille," said Janeway as she threw a dirty look over her shoulder at the boys who's fear seemed to be outlived by their innate idiocy as they were already fucking around with the fireworks again. "If there's one thing I will not tolerate- it's blatant disregard for the safety of others. Let's go home." 


	8. WWW, The Four Letter Word

Chapter 8

"What the _hell_ are you listening to?" stated Janeway as she entered the rather grotty art grotto where Courtney was attending to an unfinished painting. 

"It's _called_ 'Our Lady Peace,' Janeway- and I'll thank you not to insult my angry music." Courtney was in a caustic sort of mood that morning, and listening to a screeching, wailing Raine Maida was as good a solution as anything anyone else would've come up with. 

Kathryn blinked. "Angry music?"

"Yes-" replied Courtney as she exasperatedly blew an errant lock hair out of her face. "When I'm angry, I turn this crap on and attempt to blow my brains out. It doesn't always work, but today seems to be an unusually good day to try and deafen myself with this slandering excuse for music. Problems?"

"No," replied Kathryn slowly, "I just didn't figure you for that kind of a kid."

Courtney glared at Kathryn with increasing malevolence. "And just _what_ kind of a kid is that _Janeway?_"

"Blow your brains out on trashy rock music." Janeway decided that now was the time to be characteristically blunt. Heavens knows why. 

"Well, _then_," began Courtney acidly, "I suppose that you'd better make a note of it. Wouldn't want to forget that I don't exactly adhere to the stereotype you've placed me in."

"And just what do suggest that stereotype is?" Kathryn was digging herself in deeper with the teen, she knew it, but for some reason, a good row seemed to be in order. 

"Artsy, eccentric, beatnik-y kid that's too serious for their own good, convinced that they're higher above others because they don't adhere to society's constraints, who listen to music that consists of the grass blowing, errant drumbeats and whales screeching under the water. Have I just about pin-pointed the idea?"  Courtney returned to her painting, and several seconds later began swearing at the canvass. In several different languages. Here are a few. "_Vete_ a la mierda! Léan air! A _leithéid_ de _chac_ asail! Shiza, shiza, shiza!"

Kathryn grinned. 

Then, Kathryn began to giggle. 

Kathryn stood with her hands over her mouth and tried to stifle the laughter. 

"_What_ are you snorting about?" said Courtney as she eyed the Captain with undisguised distaste.

Kathryn, with a great amount of difficulty composed herself. "You- you've just sworn in Spanish, Gaelic, German, French, Greek- and I think Mongolian."

"You're point, Janeway?" said Courtney scathingly. 

"No point- I'm just so amused." Janeway was being entirely honest. 

"Well, I suggest that you get over it," said Courtney as she messed around with her CD player until and entirely different genre of music was blasting through the small speakers. 

"Opera?" Janeway asked with some surprise. "May I ask why?"

"I like this song, it reminds me of someone I admire very much," Courtney replied simply. All traces of anger were gone as Courtney closed her eyes and watched on her inner eyelids the dance only she could see. Kathryn marvelled at the instantaneous transformation. The only thing that she saw on the face of the girl was peace.

"Who?" she pried.

"María Pagés," Courtney replied, the r's rolling and the accents torrid. 

"Who-" began Janeway, but Courtney pointed a silencing finger to a picture on the papered wall. 

Kathryn looked and saw the dark haired woman who gazed out from beneath dark lashes with onyx eyes. "María," remarked Kathryn, "who is she Courtney?"

Courtney sighed and opened her eyes, reluctantly. "María Pagés is a dancer, a Flamenca."

"Oh," said Kathryn, her voice softening at the tones of respect in Courtney's voice for the dark woman. She couldn't really tell why. She'd always viewed Flamenco as rather a halting, trite dance that was accompanied by unearthly wailing and discordant guitar. "She doesn't look as though she would be-"

"_Be what_?" Courtney interjected vehemently. If Janeway thought she could just waltz in and start flinging insults around at someone she had know idea the history of, she had another thing coming. 

"Well," said Kathryn uncertainly, trying to be inoffensive, "she looks rather- like-

"Say it _Janeway,"_ Courtney commanded, trying with great conviction to _not_ swear. "You're not the first and you _certainly_ won't be the last."

"Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz?" asked Kathryn, thinking she'd found a diplomatic way of stating her point. 

"If the phrase you're so ineptly beating around contains words that all begin with a 'w' Kathryn Janeway you'd better start running. I'm not slim, but I'm damn fast- and should the word wicked, witch, or west leave you're mouth- you won't believe how fast I'll catch you."

Janeway was startled. How had the girl known what she was going to say. "Courtney, I'm sorry, I- I didn't-"

"_ENOUGH!_" Courtney shouted. "There is something that you need to see before you go comparing this woman to any more fairytale monsters- understand?"

Kathryn nodded meekly. 

"Come-" Courtney said as she left the grotto. "_NOW KATHRYN!_" she added when the woman didn't move. 

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Minutes later, Kathryn and Courtney were seated in a small room with a slanted ceiling. The room was encased in pine and contained a computer, two skylights, and a very large TV. 

Courtney violently smacked the play button of the remote and torrid music filled the air, as well as a woman's voice, laden with culture. She spoke in Spanish as pictures of Goya's work appeared on the screen. As the last painting faded to darkness the words, "For Pancho," appeared on the screen.

"Who's Pancho?" asked Kathryn.

"María's son. She dedicated the show, La Tirana, to him."

"That's really very-"

"Sweet?" prompted Courtney. "She's not a monster Janeway, just because she's not gorgeous. She loves her child, and-"

"Down, girl," exclaimed Kathryn softly. "I know." Courtney was terribly protective of this woman's reputation, decided Kathryn for herself. _And for good reason, _she thought, as she reminded herself that _she_ was going to base her entire impression of María on her large nose and pronounced chin. 

"Just watch her dance," Courtney rebuked softly as music filled the air. 

Exactly one hour and seventeen minutes later, a mere puddle of what used to be Kathryn Janeway sat amongst a pile of used tissues, as tears ran down her face. Watching that woman dance was like- well, someone needed to invent a word for it, whatever it was. The grace and passion seemed more a part of the dark-haired dancer than her existence on the earth.  

Courtney regarded Kathryn with a look of happy completion. "Now do you understand, Aunty Ciqs?" she asked softly as Kathryn continued to sniffle. 

"Yes," she managed, before she blew her nose again. "I think I've got it."

"Good." Courtney hugged the sniffling Kathryn. "Don't ever forget it."

Kathryn hugged Courtney back.

"I don't think that will be a problem."


	9. Fiver And Rabid Scorpions

Chapter 9

Well- that was touching, wasn't it? Courtney's wicked wit and sarcastic idiosyncrasies were enough to distract Kathryn only mildly- and so, Kathryn was beginning to feel the pull of Voyager quite strongly. It was definitely the time change and that ever so slightly nagging 'You're not even in the right universe' thought that popped into mind now and again that was doing her in. 

And it all came back to one thing: If Q wasn't such an arrogant, self-serving- **_horny_**- bastard, she wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. 

Who's idea was it, she thought, to create these omnipotent beings who could on a whim change the very course of time, history, and everything in between? 

Q, perhaps, even thought this a joke. But Kathryn wasn't laughing. In fact, in the two months that she'd been stranded in this fairly ancient civilization, she'd come to realise that she was _never_ going to be able to laugh about this fiasco- if it even ended. 

However, this did not stop Kathryn from forming her own alliances, and relationships in this time, this alternate universe. Eryn, the smaller of the three girls that had adopted her was intriguing. She absorbed all that Kathryn had to teach her about warp physics and the concept of the warp 10 theory. She even delved into the remarkable information of massive compact halo objects that she had theorized about in her days at the Academy. Eryn took all of this information and carefully filed it away in her thrifty little mind for later use. 

Courtney, however, was not nearly as inclined to probe into the advanced sciences of the 24th century.

It was all very cloying for Janeway and Eryn to be running their own little academy- but Courtney could not fathom being able to jam any more useless scientific fiddle-faddle into her brain. Instead, Courtney stuck to her paintings and music, keeping in mind that Janeway could soon be leaving their small town. Q would not leave her there indefinitely. Courtney- if she had to- would see to that. 

It was on such a day- we'll say sometime near the end of August- that Courtney decided another little talk with Q might be in order. 

"Q- get your all-powerful butt down here right now!" Courtney shouted one day while working on a painting in the Grotto. 

Q appeared in what Courtney supposed was an attempt at artistic messiness. He wore white coveralls decorated with splotches of paint. Brushes poked out of innumerable pockets and paint seemed to steadily drip off of them with no obvious source.

"You bellowed?" he said. 

"Yeah, I did," stated Courtney briskly. "I want you to tell me exactly when you plan to send Janeway back to Voyager."

Q pondered this for a moment, his hands fiddling with a paintbrush that was now dripping multicoloured paint onto Courtney's floor. She was about to object to this when Q –_ Q_ – actually produced an answer. "I'll send her back when she asks me to, I suppose. She's been here long enough and somehow- I think this punishment has backfired anyway…"

Courtney blinked. "You will?"

"Eh- what the hell," responded Q flippantly. "I wasn't really going to leave her here for the rest of her life- she knows that." 

"Right, I'm sure she does," Courtney said, and not too kindly. 

"Oh come now," said Q appealingly, "I've stranded her dozens of times and she's always gotten back to Voyager with her bun on strait. The war of the Continuum- the wrong earth- they're all the same to me, and her as well."

Courtney continued to stare at Q. "So all she has to do is ask?"

Q nodded, and then disappeared, leaving only paint splotches behind to prove his actual existence in the Grotto. 

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Seven minutes later Courtney appeared at Janeway's door. "Captain- where are you- he'll send you back! He'll send you back! Captain!"

Kathryn appeared at the bottom of the stairs several moments later, a breathless smile on her face. 

"What's with the 'Captain,' all of a sudden? Are you angry with me again?" Kathryn grinned crookedly and sat down on the stairs, patting a spot beside her. 

Courtney sat and then launched into her good news. "All you have to do is ask him and Q says he'll send you back- whenever you want!" she finished a few minutes later. 

Kathryn smiled. She was finally going to be able to get back to Voyager. 

The only problem being that now- she wasn't sure she could. Kathryn finally realised what Q's real punishment was. Stranding her from Voyager was bad enough, but the really clever bit had been that now she was here, Kathryn had made friends- had come to love those friends. And now she would have to leave them. That was the real punishment. 

"Damn him," muttered Kathryn. 

Courtney understood. "Yeah- right to the Continuum's version of hell."

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Kathryn decided that she would prolong her stay on this alternate earth for at least another week- just to get used to the idea of leaving and also to give herself time to say goodbye to all the people she was going to leave behind.  She even had the brainwave to ask Q for a holo-imager so she could take some pictures and some vids. 

The news was broken to Eryn a couple of days later. Eryn took it calmly- although, her lack of protest could have had something to do with the actual shock of losing her mentor. Then there was Leni's mother, An. 

Kathryn was NOT at all pleased to have to say goodbye to her. An was the first female friend she'd had in years- and lying to her, telling An she was going to back to Ireland after all, well, it was a rotten feeling Kathryn was left with when she was finally through it.

Then, there was Courtney to deal with. Admittedly, the girl was strange, eccentric, headstrong and occasionally rude- but then, wasn't Kathryn a bit of all those things as well? 

It was one afternoon down in the Grotto, a day or so before Kathryn would be 'zapped' back to Voyager and her own alternate universe, when Courtney made one demand of Kathryn that she could not refuse. 

"You want me to what?" Kathryn said, barely containing the squeak in her voice. 

"Paint me a picture Aunty," said Courtney. "You're going to up and leave me here- I want my very own Janeway original!"

"But I can't paint. You _know_ I can't paint," protested Kathryn in her most appealing tone. "My sister-"

"-Phoebe was always the artistic one," finished Courtney knowingly. "That's nice. Paint me a picture anyway."

"I-" began Kathryn. 

"No buts. Paint. Now." Courtney presented Kathryn with a small canvas, some acrylic paints, some brushes, and put on some Cyndi Lauper music. "I recommend listening to track nine more than once- I find it very inspiring." And then Courtney left Kathryn Janeway to her own devices- which may or may not have been the most brilliant idea. 

Kathryn looked to the blank canvas with a mixture of horror and disgust and then dipped her brush into a pot of red paint as "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" began blaring over the speakers. 

Three runs through the CD and twenty repetitions of track 9 later, Kathryn emerged from the Grotto, covered from head to toe in paint. 

"Kid, get your demanding butt down here," she shouted, trying to scrub some of the paint off of her face, but only succeeding in putting more on.

Courtney appeared several seconds later, apparently having been waiting just upstairs. She took one look at Janeway and began to laugh. "Did I mention you were supposed to paint _on_ the canvas?"

"Oh, shush," said Kathryn as she once again scrubbed at her face. 

"Well- where is it, then?" asked Courtney as she took a step towards the sheeted off area that was her Grotto. 

Kathryn retrieved the canvas and handed it to the girl. Courtney looked down. 

"Holy shite!" she exclaimed as she saw what Janeway had painted. An almost perfect replica of a rabid scorpion running through a puddle of what appeared to be some sort of mucenologenous compound right into a rather intricate escalator that lead to some sort of a nebulous cloud in a very red sky. 

"What- 'holy shite' what?"  asked Janeway. 

"Nothing- it's just I was kind of expecting you to pull some sort of polar-bear-in-a-snowstorm or voice-of-fire stunt. This is really good."

Janeway smiled proudly. "Of course it is."

"Oh, shush," Courtney echoed as she put the painting down and gave Kathryn a hug. "Thanks Aunt Kathryn."

Kathryn started. "Aunt Kathryn?"

"Well," said Courtney with enough foresight not to be offended, "that's your name, isn't it?"

"I suppose," said Kathryn. "But- well, what happened to Ciquala?"

"That name wasn't mine to use for you- I guess. You know?" Courtney fidgeted for a moment, wishing she hadn't brought it up at all. She'd killed a perfectly good moment by saying something stupid again. 

Janeway, though, seemed to consider it for a moment, and was touched by the offering of her special name back. She'd chosen it in selfishness, wanting to hear it spoken aloud- now, the girl was giving it back. 

"I know. Thank you, kiddo." Courtney still looked a little emotionally confused, so Kathryn gently steered her towards the stairs. "Lets get out of the basement and back to my house. I've made a complete mess of myself. I really need a shower and there's something I need to give to you."

"Alright, but only if you let me get a picture of you with that holo-thingamajig of yours. You look hilarious!"

"It's a deal," Kathryn grinned. 

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About half an hour later, Kathryn and Courtney sat out on the back deck at 'Aunty Kathryn's' house, sipping coffee and having one more Coffee Crisp each- for the road, you understand. 

Kathryn suddenly produced a small package and handed it to the teen. 

"What- I made you do all that painting, and here you're giving me something else?" asked Courtney in surprise. 

"Why not? I made you sit through that explanation of warp theory with Eryn- as I recall you almost went into a coma…"

"Be kind, Aunty Kathryn- or I'll take back what I'm giving _you_." Courtney then began to unwrap the large package and found a photo album- filled with pictures of Kathryn, An, and the three girls. "Oh- wow. This is wicked! Who took all of these?"

Kathryn smiled. "I had a little help from Q in that aspect. He has a very- _photographic _memory."

"And here I thought he was just an asshole-" said Courtney as she flipped through the book. There were literally hundreds of pictures contained within the pages- even one of the beatific smile on Janeway's face when she discovered Coffee Crisp. "Thank you, for this."

"Your very welcome kid-let. Now- you said you had something for me?" Kathryn grinned impudently, gazing imploringly at the teen.  

"Oh, grow up!" laughed Courtney, even as she produced a fairly large bundle of her own and handed it to the older woman. 

Kathryn hefted it experimentally and then tore off the brown paper- and found canvases. At least ten different ones- all of them paintings. "Oh, Courtney- you didn't paint _all_ of these for me?"

"Sure- what else am I supposed to do all day when you're gallivanting around with An?" Courtney smiled and took the paper from Kathryn, allowing the woman more free hands to look at the artwork she had laboured over for more than a month.  

One in particular stood out amongst the rest. A strange landscape with a caged sun and a purple tree washed over the canvas. Turquoise falling stars scattered across the red sky. Figures trailing bright scarves danced around a small tor, obviously in some kind of ceremony.

"Aha!" exclaimed Courtney in triumph. 

"What aha?" said Janeway, still mesmerized by the painting. 

"Remember how I told you to put track nine on repeat when you were painting?" Courtney asked mysteriously.

"I do-" Kathryn began, realizing quickly why the painting had caught her attention so. "Same song?"

Courtney nodded. "Sisters of Avalon."

"I'll put it in my ready room," said Kathryn. 

"Why there?" asked Courtney, thinking that perhaps Janeway would have hung the painting in her quarters. 

"Why, only the most prestigious art is allowed to be hung in my gallery, displayed to every foreign diplomat and nameless Ensign to enter my domain." Kathryn smiled. 

"Ah- I see. Well, that's alright, then." Courtney smiled too. 

"Courtney- I'm not really one for drawn out goodbyes. How would you feel if you said goodbye to me tonight, and I wasn't here tomorrow?"

The smile faded from Courtney's face.

"I would be better, kid-let," said Kathryn, trying to convince herself as much as the doubtful, even hurt teen. 

"I think I'm going to smack Q the next time I see him," stated Courtney decisively. 

Kathryn smiled. "We'll get some of our old Irish brawling spirit up and beat the omnipotent snot out of him together, alright?"

"I have an even better idea," said the girl. "Why don't you stay here, instead, and then we won't have to pound the omnipotent snot out of him at all."

"Defending Q? You're really grasping at straws, m'girl. You know I can't stay here. I've got a promise to some very important people that I have to keep- something about getting them home." Kathryn smiled and looked up into the night sky, as if expecting to see her Starship there, waiting for her. 

Courtney sighed sadly. "You're still leaving then?"

Kathryn looked back to the girl and smiled. "I'm still leaving- oh, dear- don't cry…" said Kathryn as she saw a tear slip down the girls face. 

"I- I'm not…" said Courtney, quickly wiping away the offending droplet. 

Kathryn opened her arms and had to _order_ Courtney to come to her before the teen did so. 

"I feel like such a five-year-old," said Courtney waveringly.  
"Well, you shouldn't," said Kathryn.

"And why not?" asked Courtney rather indignantly, still trying to fend off impending tears. 

"Because that would make me a fiver too- and did you want to reduce your beloved Captain to the rank of a little kid?"

Courtney looked up to find that Kathryn's eyes were shining too, and that the woman's mouth was trembling. "Aunty Kathryn- you're _not_ crying!" she exclaimed in surprise. 

"Why should you be allowed, and I'm not?" asked Kathryn as she pulled the girl back to her.

"I _suppose_ you're right," conceded Courtney, smiling a little.  

"Of course I'm right," said Kathryn. "Now shush up and give me a good hug- I want to feel it all the way back to the Alpha Quadrant."

Courtney complied, just like a good little five-year-old. 

Coda

Kathryn appeared back on Voyager the next day, only to find that Q had absented her from her ship for three days, their time. Still- three days was long enough not to be able to find one's Captain, and her return to Voyager was met by hysterical glee on everyone's part.

Kathryn, for the most part, settled back into her duties easily, simply glad to be back on her ship where she could carry out her duties to her friends and crew. Still, there were times when she would look at the paintings that hung on her wall, and gazed a the picture that sat on her desk of her, and that crazy, eccentric, occasionally rude teenager who she'd left back on the 'other earth.' When she did, Kathryn wondered if she'd ever see the girl again. 

Little did she know that Q and Courtney were already plotting her_ next_ 'vacation.'  


End file.
